Chicago Lender Monroe Drops Suit Against L.A. Exec

Chicago lender Monroe Capital has dropped a lawsuit it filed this summer against Los Angeles dealmaker Warren Woo and his new investment firm, Breakaway Capital.

Monroe fired Woo, a partner and managing director, in June. In a suit filed just before the firing, Monroe alleged Woo had taken client information and trade secrets from the firm while setting up his own lending company. Woo and his attorneys denied those claims.

In a statement Thursday, Monroe Chief Executive Ted Koenig confirmed Monroe had dropped the suit and reached a settlement with Woo. He said Woo remains an investor in a Monroe-managed investment fund.

“Upon further investigation, it is clear that Mr. Woo’s actions were not improper,” Koenig said. “We are pleased to have reached a mutually satisfactory settlement agreement with Mr. Woo.”

Woo’s firing was a hot topic in L.A. investment circles this summer, both because of how publicly Monroe fired him and because of the connections Woo has made over the years at some of the city’s biggest firms.

He started his career in the 1980s at the Beverly Hills office of Drexel Burnham Lambert, then run by Michael Milken. He later worked for fellow Drexel alumnus Ken Moelis in the local offices of Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette and UBS Investment Bank, then left UBS to join Moelis & Co. in 2007.

In a statement Thursday, Woo said, “I am pleased with the settlement and with the acknowledgement that my actions were in no way improper.”